American Idiot

The Alexandra Theatre

****

Green Day
released their award-winning album American Idiot back in 2004, as a direct response to
an American world post 9/11.

Using their worldwide popular songs as a platform
for the production, with a book by Green Day frontman Billy Joe
Armstrong himself, the rock opera aims to display the confusion and pent
up frustration towards politics and the media at the start of the
century.

It explores the explosive emotional consequences
with the lives of three characters and the visceral production gives a
new context to the successful punk rock album.

Whether a fan of Green Day or not, the production
is clever to present the direct reaction of anger and rebellion right
from the gut. The show starts energetically with the titled song and the
first lines ‘Don’t want to be and American Idiot’ are a
striking prelude to the themes surrounding the production.

The pop-punk numbers are energetically recreated
with the live band who are Robert Wicks on keys and violin, Chris George
on guitar, Nick Kent on bass and Charlie Maguire on drums. They
emphatically provide a strong accompaniment, with revving riffs,
creating the show’s emotional backdrop. They are always in sight on the
top platform on stage, and the cast play out the rebellious story with
impressive dances and striking vocals

The production can definitely be classed as a
rock opera. Given the original album’s genre, the stage production
mirrors a strong emotional rebellion, which packs a punch, but doesn’t
go over the top. The production displays songs from Green Day’s album
with added classics from previous albums.

The energetic production captures a suppressed
anger towards the American government post 9/11, as we see from the
backdrop of the politically charged songs.

The company perform numbers from the pulsating
album with exemplary choreography by Blair Anderson. It’s a great
highlight to see the voices of anger and hurt being bought to the
forefront. The three central characters Johnny (Tom Milner) Declan
(Christian Tyler-Wood) and Theo (Glenn Adamson) seem to have no
direction in life and use Green Day’s emphatic songs to display their
inner feelings.

With a constant stream of media information, the
overwhelming cacophony in the character’s minds are prevalent, as their
internal emotions become the context to the songs within the production.

The meaning behind the songs, and indeed the
album itself, are highlighted spectacularly within the rocking
production. We watch the rebellious three young men in suburbia trying
to find a purpose in a seemingly new world.

The play starts on the twelfth of September,
2001, as we see news footage from the time displayed on a television
screen overhead.

Particular lines of songs become instantly
thought provoking, giving scope to think about people’s perception of
the American political culture at the time. The trio sing the lines with
a touching passion such as ‘In a land of make believe, they don’t
believe in me’ and ‘information age of hysteria’. It’s easy to miss
these striking statements if the songs were to stand alone, however,
when raw emotion is played out right in front of our eyes, we gain a new
appreciation for the album itself.

Director and choreographer Racky Plews is
unafraid to tackle the deeper meanings behind the American Idiot
album head on. Just as Green Day make a point to explicitly say how they
feel, and Plews makes sure that the darker emotions are also displayed
on stage.

Themes of depression and loss are tastefully
touched upon. The use of drugs is also an explicit motif, its purpose
showing the vices used to cope with confusion and not being understood.

The musical talent from the company definitely
make this show entertaining, especially when Sam Lavery is seen within
her role of Whatsername. Lavery takes on the role as the unafraid
strong-willed woman with perfect ease and has a wicked voice to suit.
The social and political context really takes the production to further
heights. Its clever staging and rebellious story allow the audience to
appreciate the ideas behind the reason why the American Idiot
album was created in the first place. Plews and the company paint the
angsty picture about the inner nuances of what the album really means to
say.

The rock-loving audience loved it, giving the
show a well-deserved standing ovation. It was followed by the hopeful
song ‘Time of your life’, which was played out as an encore by the
entire company. To 13-04-19